November 24 and 25 marked the NPO Forum and Fair 2017 at the KL Convention Centre. Themed The Uncommon Good, the event hosted 75 non-profits (NPOs) of all sizes and causes.

Didn’t make it? Here is a quick rundown of some highlights.Rachel Siew, the extraordinary lady behind the Rachel Siew Suet Li Trust Fund.

The budding NPOs

What makes the fair great is the exposure to smaller causes. Out of the 75 participating NPOs, a good portion are fresh faces.

Some NPOs are more personal. Rachel Siew Suet Li Trust Fund supports the treatment of the titular Rachel, who suffers from the rare Morquio Syndrome. At 90cm tall and 19kg, the heaviest thing she can carry is her smartphone. Though a cure for her condition is found after two decades of waiting, the cost of the life-long treatment is a staggering RM1.6 mil a year. Read more of her story here.

Panel discussion on the most pressing needs of non-profits.

The influential voices

The forum featured 16 prominent speakers from Asian academic and corporate institutions across seven talks and panel discussions. Based on a 2016 survey of the most urgent needs of NPOs, the forum was designed to challenge conventions and produce innovative solutions.

Our very own Dato’ James Greaves, founder and executive chairman of JAG Group Holdings (including APPCO Group Asia and SG Global Support Services), was on the panel discussing financial health for NPOs in Malaysia. He was joined by Ms Yap Mun Ching (executive director, AirAsia Foundation) and Ms Angie Wong (assurance partner, PwC). Read the key takeaways here.

The hour-long panel discussion touches on topics like administrative costs and third party services.

1. How much is too much for overhead costs?

Projects don’t come to fruition on their own, but administrative costs can still be tricky to explain to donors.

For Ms Wong, it all comes down to honesty. “Let your donors know that we may be NPOs, but we don’t work for peanuts. We do hire people, we do train our colleagues,” she said.

While AirAsia Foundation doesn’t fund administrative costs of more than 30%, they allow relevant operation costs. Ms Yap explained, “If you have a training program, the trainer cost will obviously be part of that. … What we define as overhead is more like what you are paying for the staff of the overall organisation.”

“I think one of the constant battles for NPOs that I see is this idea that overhead is a bad word and must be reduced all the time,” said Dato’ James. “[If] you put all the money on the cause and don’t reinvest money into making more money, sooner or later your charity will cease to be.”

2. Should I pay for quality workers?

Dato’ James quoted a TedTalk by David Pallotta, that suggested people are more willing to donate the additional income from a better pay, rather than working for charities and earning less.

Using that as an example, he said a non-profit that does not invest in quality staff will stay stagnant. “But if you are going to spend more money, you got to keep up the communication. You got to be able to justify,” he said.

3. Can I save for rainy days?

Reserves can be controversial. They can be a great safety net when unexpected issues crop up, but the idea of non-profits hoarding money is not a pleasant one.

Ms Yap makes sure AirAsia Foundation reserves 20% of its funds. “But it is not a priority for us to build reserves because our goal here is to use the money for the cause, not to build a big bank account.”

“If I run out of money and I have spent it all, then I have done my job,” she said. “I budget about 95% so I have a bit of buffer in case unexpected things come up.”

4. How do I justify using third party service providers?

Not even Superman can save the world on his own. Third party fundraisers may be a viable option if you want freedom to focus on your cause.

“The great thing about having a third party is you can stop it whenever you like. If there is any reason it isn’t working, you can go, ‘Oh, this isn’t what I want.’ So give your notice and bye bye,” said Dato’ James, stating it would be much harder to do the same for internal staff.

5. Why are third party fundraisers so expensive?

Dato’ James disagreed with the perception that third party fundraisers are costly, saying, “To call it expensive is a relative concept. Our [APPCO’s] goal is north of three, hopefully four-to-one return. So if you are putting in a dollar, you are getting three dollars back.”

Third party fundraisers also leave an impact on the public, encouraging those who did not sign up to donate on their own in the future. “We hope we are actually having a greater effect on the 90% of people that says no to us. … So we have an overall no-risk customer acquisition and guaranteed returns, and we are pretty good ambassadors at what we do,” he said.

Ms Wong said the use of third party fundraisers is fine as long you can justify the cost. “I have seen some fairly expensive fundraising expenses. That is where I am accountable to [my] stakeholders. I have to get comfortable that those are expenses well spent.”

6. Is there a cost-effective way to manage donors?

The best donors are perhaps ones you already have. They are not just donors, but volunteers and ambassadors for your cause. But is it better to stretch your resources and do your donor retention in-house? Or is outsourcing the smarter choice?

It has been six months since we launched the ‘new’ SG brand. A bright lime green with a stylized globe that looks considerably more contemporary. It has done well for us, we’re delighted with how it looks and an important validation has been all the positive feedback that we’ve received on our new look.

Thank you, we like it too. But that’s the easy part.

What is still a work in progress is the redevelopment of SG, changing the paradigm of the way we think and function. Challenging industry norms by exploring new and fresh ideas, no longer bound by constraints of sticking to what we know or what’s worked before.

And if we are the charity, then we need to put our expertise and experience towards identifying the ‘one percent’ areas that will make all the difference.

From software development to design, new approaches to call centre and even more streamlined operations. There are many areas that we’re excited to be moving forward because it means we can continue to surprise our partners with new ideas and concepts. Across all departments, we’re busy getting better.

So the process of continuous improvement continues. We’re happy with the progress so far but there’s more to come. We look forward to demonstrating that progress in future updates.